This invention relates to cleaning lenses, such as contact lenses. In particular, the invention relates to compositions and methods useful to quickly and effectively enzymatically clean contact lenses.
Contact lenses should be periodically disinfected and cleaned to protect the wearer's eyes from infection and to improve the wearer's comfort. It is often desirable that lens disinfecting be accomplished quickly, e.g., for the convenience of the wearer. However, conventional fast-acting disinfectants that are used with contact lenses have a high potential to cause eye irritation. A disinfectant which can be easily and effectively dissipated after use would be advantageous to reduce the chance of eye irritation.
In addition to being disinfected, the contact lens should be cleaned, e.g., of protein-based debris which accumulates on the lens during use. Such lens cleaning is often done in the presence of one or more enzymes. See, for example, Karageozian U.S. Pat. No. 3,910,296. In many instances, a complete lens maintenance procedure involves first enzymatic cleaning followed by a separate lens disinfecting step. It would be advantageous to provide for disinfecting and cleaning contact lenses in a one-step procedure.